martin luther king jr. organization led 600 peaceful nonviolent protesters attempting to march from selma to montgomery to dramatize the need for voting rights protection in the state of alabama, throughout the south, and our nation. as we crossed the edmund pettus bridge, we were met by state troopers who shot us with tear gas, mao beat us with nightsticks and trampled us with horses. i was hit on the head and suffered a concussion on the bridge. 17 of us went to the hospital on that day, the good samaritan hospital in downtown selma. just eight days later, president lyndon johnson introduced the voting rights act, and later, on august 6th, 1965, he signed that act into law. >> that was congressman john lewis, democrat of georgia who led the march on the edmund pettus bridge in selma that day in 1965. he was speaking about that experience today on the steps of the supreme court. as the conservative majority on the court seemed to indicate a willingness to at least considering dismantling the pilars of the